A solid estate plan can help you attain your estate planning goals and objectives. Start building your estate plan here.

Preparing an estate plan is personal and highly individualized. You should also prepare it with a knowledgeable team of professionals; your lawyer, accountant, trust officer, financial and insurance advisors.

A sage once said; “planning for the future means considering many possibilities before they occur”. We all know it’s impossible to accurately predict future events. And in the case of estate planning, you are in all respects creating a plan for others at a future point in time. Those others may be your closest family, your children, or business associates.

Whether your total estate is large or small, estate planning can help you preserve your assets, manage money during your lifetime, and facilitate the administration of your affairs after your death.

Furthermore, a well prepared estate planning document can accomplish the following:

• Ensure that assets are distributed to your heirs according to your wishes.
• Minimize estate taxes and court costs.
• Allow you to choose a trusted executor who knows your wishes, your family, and the contents of your estate.
• Allow you to nominate a guardian for your children.
• Allow your business to continue after your death, with a successor of your choosing, reducing the chance of a forced sale.

Many individuals believe that a will is a sufficient means of estate planning. Having a will is a great first step, but it may be legally insufficient.

Here are some of the basic building blocks of an estate plan:

• A valid and up-to-date will.
• A durable power of attorney.
• A healthcare proxy that names an individual to make healthcare decisions for you when you’re unable. This might be your spouse, close relative, or friend.
• Instructions to your executor regarding the disposition of assets to heirs and beneficiaries.
• An inventory of your estate’s assets such as real estate, investments, personal belongings etc.
• Life insurance to provide funds for your survivors to help pay debts and estate taxes.

Finally, your estate plan is never finished and it should be reviewed periodically with the help and guidance of your estate planning team.

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For individuals who have accumulated a significant amount of wealth, it is essential to consider several situations if they want to preserve that wealth for current and future generations. One of the most prominent situations is that estate taxation can erode wealth. Above certain levels of wealth, estate taxes may be difficult if not impossible to eradicate.

From the beginning, you should make certain that you choose estate planning professionals with the right credentials. They should have a detailed understanding of current estate tax laws, both Federal and state (should you live in a state that taxes the wealth of an estate at death). They should also be very familiar with specific requirements of the law and associated calculations.

While minimizing the effect of estate taxation is generally very important, of equal importance is making certain that you have an estate plan that adequately settles the financial and economic needs of your family and heirs. Of primary concern is basically “who will get what, and when will they get it?” For example, you may need to provide for a disabled child, or you may not want to leave a significant amount of wealth to a 12-year-old child, or you may have children from multiple marriages who have diverse financial resources. You can see that there can be a multitude of complicated situations within families.

And while there are many alternatives that need to be discussed and evaluated, there are also many practical methods available for accomplishing specific goals. You options include gifting, trusts, charitable bequests, and life insurance, all of which may help you direct how things will be finalized when you are no longer here to make the decisions.

One thing that you should realize is that a sound estate plan will always need to be reviewed whenever there is a significant change in personal circumstances. It is not uncommon to have a yearly estate planning review just to make sure nothing material has changed. In that way, you’ll know that you have served your family and heirs well.